Music Scene: Two chances to see Justin Townes Earle

Friday

May 18, 2018 at 3:17 AM

Justin Townes Earle and Lilly Hiatt have a lot in common, most notably that both released albums last year that were almost universally considered among the best of 2017, so it makes sense that they are touring together.

Of course, both songwriters are also alike in that they both have famous fathers who have forged musical careers as unique songsmiths before them. Justin Townes Earle is the son of Steve Earle, while Lilly Hiatt is the daughter of John Hiatt, and those are two rather large shadows to escape, but both have made major strides in developing musical identities in their own right, and neither wants to be viewed simply as someone's kid.

Justin Townes Earle and Lilly Hiatt, performing separate solo sets, will be swinging through the area next week, appearing at The Sinclair in Harvard Square on Monday night, and then playing at The Narrows Center for The Arts on Friday May 25.

It will be a return to familiar touring ground for Earle, who spent last spring and summer touring with The Sadies backing him, as he had just released "Kids in the Street," an album of predominantly band-oriented rock and Americana. Last year's album was Justin's eighth, and he's made a determined effort to be seen as an artist separate and distinct from his father, as much as he does admire, respect, and appreciate all Steve Earle has achieved.

"I absolutely see the connection we have, the things Lilly and I have in common," said Justin Townes Earle from an Indiana tour stop. "We both have famous fathers who were wild as hell in their earlier days. But, from my own experience, from what I see, Lilly is going about it in the right way. My father and I talked about about 12 years ago, around the time my first album was coming out. We decided then and there we would not do a show together, and we would not even be seen together that much. It was a conscious effort to make sure I was seen as an artist myself, and not just someone's son. Now, in the past four or five years, we have played together maybe five times, about once a year, and that's as much as we want to do.

"You have to make a career for yourself," Earle continued, "and be known for what you do, not just your famous father. This is not bluegrass, and we are not the Carter Family. And another thing to watch out for is that if you spend too much time touring with your more established parents, you're probably going to end up sounding a lot like them. That's not good for making your own name as a musician or songwriter, so that's another good reason to avoid it."

Ironically, although they've traveled in some of the same circles and surely played some of the same venues, Earle and Hiatt were not acquainted before this tour began this week. Hiatt, whose "Trinity Lane" album was based on a period of time spent looking at herself and her life from her East Nashville neighborhood, and Earle, who re-located to Portland, Ore., from his previous northern California home a couple years back, are just getting to know each other.

"Nashville is not a place I want to live," said Earle, whose father now calls New York City home. "I had lived in New York City myself for about 10 years, but even then we were separated -- me in the East Village, and my father in the West Village, so we didn't spend a lot of time together. Make no mistake, we're both like sharks, in that if we stop moving, we're all done, so we didn't see each other that much. As I said we play together now, maybe once a year, and now it's usually a benefit concert for my little brother's charity foundation."

"We came together on this tour because Lilly and I are both New West Records artists," noted Earle. "You always want to do things with your labelmates -- I still do things with a lot of (former label) my Bloodshot Records people. But Lilly and I have actually just met today. It is possible we've crossed paths before, and I love her record. I have also heard all kinds of good things about her live show, but until we get onstage tonight, I have not really heard her perform yet."

Earle's little brother is John Henry Earle, the 8-year old son of Steve and his now ex-wife Allison Moorer. As it happens, the current (May 17) issue of Rolling Stone has a back page Q-&-A with Steve Earle, in which he offers that his grown sons Justin and Ian are probably seeing him now being a better father to the youngster than he was to them. John Henry is autistic, and as most fans know, Steve was battling his own demons when Justin and Ian were growing up, and Steve admits in that interview that his contemporary, sober fatherhood is superior to the old Steve.

"I think that's absolutely true," said Justin. "But we also realize that's partly about the situation too, where John Henry needs more attention. But I have always said I am nothing but proud of my father and they way he took care of us, and what he's become."

Justin is still touring behind "Kids in the Street," and its panoply of styles is surely invigorating. There's buoyant rockers like "Champagne Corolla," an ode to an old car, nods to pure country like "What She's Crying For," plenty of soul with numbers like "There Go A Fool," and even a dazzling New Orleans romp inspired by Professor Longhair, in "15-25." On the 2017 tour, Earle was backed by Canada's kings of Americana, The Sadies, while this time he's solo. How does that change the delivery, and have the songs evolved over the past year?

"They probably have evolved, but nothing earth-shatttering," said Earle. "I find little vocal things, which I wish I'd done on the record, or I discover little guitar licks that work well. Mostly, what will change are the tempos and rhythms. When I play solo, the songs tend to get faster, because you want to keep it rolling. That can be most evident in older songs. I just heard my recording of "Mama's Eyes" for the first time in years, and I said 'Wow, that's so fast." I think it is more endearing the way I do it now. But I guarantee that sort of change is not a conscious thing, I just realized over time a better way to do the song."

"I have a new album written and we'll be recording that in August," said Earle. "I am slowly starting to wrap my mind around the new songs and how we want to do them, but I won't be playing any of them on this tour. I'll be producing my album again, and going back to the same engineer I've used on my previous albums."

Earle's last album was produced by rock producer Mike Mogis, but this forthcoming work will be more stripped down. He would, however, love to play with The Sadies again.

"I'm putting together a pretty cool band for this next album, which we will record in Nashville," Earle explained. "They're musicians from Nashville, but Music Row is just a road to them. I've also already written a second album, which I intend to record at a later date with The Sadies. God, I love that band! Playing with those guys was a (bleeping) dream. They can handle anything; soul, blues, honky tonk -- anything you need them to do. I said to myself, 'Oh yeah, I'm writing a record for this band.' Do I want to join the Sadies? They want to join me, and individually let me know they'd love to be my backing band. They don't tour a lot, and are more popular in Canada and Europe than they ever were in the States, which baffles me. They're kind of like NRBQ in that respect--a great band that just never seems to get out of the club circuit."

In between the next album, and then that second work with The Sadies, Earle has a tour of Australia on tap, and one of his best markets is the land 'down under.'

"I don't know why that is exactly," said Earle. "I do know that when Australians talk about country music, they mean folks like Porter Wagoner more than any contemporary acts, not to say there isn't a big pop music scene there too. But I just think they appreciate more grit and authenticity in their music."

And grit and authenticity are, after all, pretty much the Earle and Hiatt family business.